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| Thread ID: 68239 | 2006-04-22 05:21:00 | Please help! Dead hard drive! | hannah (10261) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 448403 | 2006-04-22 05:21:00 | My boyfriend has an external hard drive, which connects to the computer through the USB Port. It has worked fine for about 18 months, although I noticed recently that whenever I plugged it in to my Dell computer, it would spend a few minutes trying to Autoplay when I had already turned that option off. A few weeks ago we went to use it and it wouldn't work. The power seems fine as the red light is on, but the drive doesn't spin or seem to be working at all. The drive is a Maxtor 120 GB ATA133 drive with four partitions. I discovered that it's almost exactly the same as the Maxtor drive I have in my computer as a secondary drive. So, I replaced my 2nd drive with his (using IDE) but it is not recognised by Windows XP or by Bios. I know I have the jumper settings etc correct as the same setup works fine for my drive. I guess the only thing to do now is to try a data recovery service. Can anyone recommend any companies in Auckland that do this? How much would it cost? Are they usually successful? Any tips/advice would be most appreciated!! There are lots of photos and documents we would love to recover (and yes, backups would've been a good idea but we never got around to it...). Thanks!!! :help: |
hannah (10261) | ||
| 448404 | 2006-04-22 05:53:00 | Did you put it on AUTO, under Secondary slave, when you connected the hard drive to your system?? So, the BIOS knows its there. If the jumper on the hdd is jumpered as slave? |
Speedy Gonzales (78) | ||
| 448405 | 2006-04-22 06:21:00 | Yes, I made the drive a slave and I went into Bios to turn it to AUTO. It still wouldn't work... | hannah (10261) | ||
| 448406 | 2006-04-22 06:31:00 | Hmm and hopefully connected the power to it?? Umm, go back into the BIOS (on the top of the hdd you'll see a label/sticker with numbers for the heads, cylinders etc). In the BIOS under secondary slave, change it to user. And then type whatever it says on the top of the hdd. Then save the settings in the BIOS. See if the BIOS detects it then. |
Speedy Gonzales (78) | ||
| 448407 | 2006-04-22 06:51:00 | Did you dropped the HDD on the ground or something? If you dropped or opened it, it is a very slim chance of recovering the data. | MTLance (6768) | ||
| 448408 | 2006-04-22 07:44:00 | data recovery services do exist but they're not cheap ...expect to pay about $800 for them to TRY to recover your data with no guarantee of sucess... | drcspy (146) | ||
| 448409 | 2006-04-22 07:51:00 | Pm me with your email address and i'll send you a PDF file compiled by TechRepublic.com with 200 ways to recover or attempt to recover a dead hard drive. | EX-WESTY (221) | ||
| 448410 | 2006-04-22 08:02:00 | google for data recovery nz ... they aren' cheap - I've heard stories of $1000 per hour. Get some quotes. The el budget techniques (and some of these are probably just legends). And if you are going to go down the $$$ route don't do these...Also if it is still under warranty and you at least want a new (but with none of your data on it), then also don't do this. 1. Find a drive of the same model and use try its circuit board in your dead drive (being the only part you can take apart in the drive). 2. Freeze hard drive in a freezer, in sealed bag and avoiding condensation and try. 3. Try and give the hard drive a sharp tap to free the hard drive heads (powered off and on). I'm sure some other poster will post their experiences. 4. Claim it contains nuclear secrets and maybe the SIS or CIA will help you out. As always, be sure to try it in a number of different systems, in case they are able to pick it up in the bios (or there ia another factor such as bad IDE cable or power supply)... Otherwise, chalk it up as an experience. Sigh, it reminds me of a problem at work - someone started to use an ancient mac for research work and, yep, no backup...... Good Luck. |
gibler (49) | ||
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